Attorney El-Rhonda Williams Alston (in black) and retired teacher Kecia Parham Cook (right photo) were were cited at a recent meeting with County Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson.
Burlington County Commissioners used a portion of their Feb. 25 meeting to recognize the exemplary service and educational contributions of two Black women during Black History Month: Retired Willingboro teacher Kecia Parham Cook and Mount Holly attorney El-Rhonda Williams Alston.
“Diversity is a strength,” said Commissioner Director Felicia Hopson. “It helps make Burlington County a wonderful place to live, and it also has helped shape our nation. Celebrating Black history and the achievements of Black Americans does not separate us. It unites us and reminds us that America’s promise of liberty and equality is for everyone.”
Parham Cook spent more than three decades in education. Her career began in 1993 as an early-childhood kindergarten teacher with the Trenton schools before she joined the Willingboro district in 1998.
As an educator, she is credited with creating innovative new curriculums that include Black history and helped obtain a New Jersey Education Association Frederick L. Hipp Foundation for Excellence grant for the Willingboro schools to develop STEM and environmental education activities for kindergarten and third-grade students.
Parham Cook was awarded the district’s teacher of the year honor in 2012, and the Wilson Harrison Foundation honored her for excellence in education. She is also vice president of the Willingboro Education Association and was recognized by the New Jersey Education Association for being part of a local union whose executive leaders are all women of color.
“First I have to thank God and my parents for instilling in me what excellence is all about, especially when it comes to educational excellence,” Parham Cook noted. “I find teaching is not just a noble profession, but it’s an assignment, and it’s an assignment that I took seriously.
“I hope the world continues to see education as a serious profession, because we’re not just touching what happens in the classroom that day, we’re touching what happens in the future.”
Williams Alston was cited for her contributions and services in law and government. She has a private practice and her career has also included significant government service, including appointments as a state deputy attorney general, director of the Equal Employment Division and Ethics Unit for the New Jersey Department of Corrections, compliance and safety director for the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and chief of the Office of Legislative Analysis and Disclosure in the New Jersey Division of Taxation.
During her tenure with the state, Williams Alston was also one of the first administrators of the New Jersey Faith Based Initiative. She has served as president and board member of the Black Women Lawyers of America and was the affirmative action officer and vice president of the American Civil Liberties Union-New Jersey.
Williams Alston is also active with the state and county bar associations, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Theta Pi Omega chapter; the Honorable Marie White Bell American Inn of the Court; and the central New Jersey chapter of Jack and Jill of America Inc.
She was an adjunct professor who now mentors junior attorneys and is a trustee with the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Burlington.
“Thank you so very much – I’m humbled and honored to receive this recognition,” Williams Alston told commissioners at the meeting. “My motto is, ‘If I can help someone as I travel along, then my living shall not be in vain.’ Every day, I get up and have the opportunity to practice law.
“To bring the law to the man on the street is a good day for me,” she added. “I think so many people need to know that lawyers are accessible, the law is accessible, government is accessible and I act as a gateway to those avenues.”
